by Seth Hemmelgarn

Members of the American Bar Association will vote on a
proposal to take an official stance on gay and trans panic defenses next week as
the lawyers' group holds its annual convention in San Francisco.

Resolution 113A "urges governments to take legislative
action to curtail the availability and effectiveness of the 'gay panic' and
'trans panic' defenses, which seek to partially or completely excuse crimes on
the grounds that the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame
for the defendant's violent reaction," the lawyers' association's website
says. If the resolution passes, it will become ABA policy.

The ABA's House of Delegates, which is the organization's
policymaking body, will meet August 12-13 to vote on
resolutions
and discuss other matters.

"In every situation where there is a gay panic defense,
it gives the lawyers facing that the power of the ABA to indicate we don't
believe this is a viable defense," ABA President Laurel Bellows said in an
interview Tuesday, August 6.

The organization could use the policy to encourage courts to
instruct jurors not to allow the sexual orientation or gender identity of
victims, witnesses, or others to bias their decisions. Bellows said no opposition
to the resolution had been presented yet, but "we encourage debate."

The proposal needs a simple majority – 50 percent plus
one vote – to pass. There are 560 total members in the ABA House of
Delegates, so for 113A to pass, it will need at least 281 votes. The resolution's
primary sponsor is the ABA's
Criminal
Justice Section.

Family members, the prosecution, and supporters spent
countless hours over numerous months combating the transphobic rhetoric and
blame-the-victim mentality that was allowed in court.

Even as the coroner's office was testifying about the
multiple causes of Araujo's death and her bruised and bloodied body, defense
attorney Tony Serra's questions remained focused on the length of Araujo's
skirt. (As of October, Magidson and Merel were both serving prison sentences of
15 years to life after being convicted of second-degree murder in the case, in which
others were also charged.)

In July 2006, state Attorney General Kamala Harris, who was
then San Francisco's district attorney, convened a national conference on
combating gay and transgender panic defense strategies.

Months later, Assembly Bill 1160, which was known as the
Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, became law in California. The law allows a
judge to instruct jurors not to consider their own anti-LGBT biases during
their deliberations.

In response to emailed questions this week, out lesbian attorney
D'Arcy Kemnitz said, "As the executive director of the National LGBT Bar
Association, I'm not only a strong supporter of the resolution, but had the
honor of helping to draft the language." Kemnitz said she'd be presenting
the resolution for a vote to the House of Delegates.

She said that she and other LGBT bar members expect
"that the resolution will receive overwhelming support among the House of
Delegates because this is an issue that impacts not just LGBT people, but our
family and friends as well. 'Gay panic' and 'trans panic' defenses have a shameful
history. They were used as excuses in the trials of those who murdered Matthew
Shepard and Gwen Araujo."

Shepard, a gay Wyoming teen, was murdered in 1998.

"We expect it may become an issue in the upcoming trial
of Lawrence Reed," who's accused in the killing of openly gay Clarksdale, Mississippi
mayoral candidate Marco McMillian, said Kemnitz.

She said she's "confident" 113A will win approval,
"sending a strong message to state legislatures, and our courts, that the
legal profession wants to see a swift end to the practice of using bias and
hate as an excuse for violence and murder."

Among other noteworthy events, former Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will accept the
ABA Medal,
the association's highest honor, is set to speak August 12.

Like other conference events, Clinton's speech is not open
to the public. The annual meeting runs from Thursday, August 8 through Tuesday,
August 13.